Ma'ane'i no ke aloha - For love is here and now
by Lunedd
Summary: Spoilers to 10x14. This is a "what if" - the accident hadn't been lethal. It's the first story in my "Justice for Joanna"'verse. Because Danny Williams deserves some happiness!


As always: I don't own anything from H50, no character, nothing. I'm just playing in this universe :)

This story happens after a long talk with friends about how great it would have been if Joanna/Leslie had made it. Sadly, they took her away from us before we could discover all the opportunities the adding of that character would have brought.

This is my take on it to what could have happened...

* * *

Danny was sitting in the chair next to Joanna's bed for what felt like an eternity, although the big clock on the wall opposite of them showed they had brought her in less than thirty minutes ago. She had been in surgery for several hours; the metal piece had sliced deep into her tissue, nicked the aorta, but miraculously missed all organs. If it had entered Joanna's body a little bit higher or a little more to the right she would not be lying in that bed now but in the morgue, the doctor had told Danny.

His own injuries were minor. Two fractured ribs he had the instruction to go easy on. A sprained ankle he should keep cooled and elevated. Some cuts from the glass of the side window that didn't even need stitches. Initially assigned to his own room to stay overnight and get monitored for the mild concussion the doctors also diagnosed, nothing in the world could hold him in there when he found out where Joanna was lying.

Joanna Leslie LaPietro.

It wasn't until Danny had gone through her personal belongings (and felt like an intruder, a traitor to find out that way, like he did something bad) that he learned her name. Danny took a deep breath.

The steady, monotonous _beep-beep_ of the heart monitor Joanna was hooked to was making him tired. Nevertheless, he forced his eyes to stay open in case she woke up. She would be confused and maybe scared, and he would do anything to make sure she could heal properly. It was his fault Joanna was in that bed after all, right?

His left knee was twitching up and down, up and down, and nothing Danny did could calm the spasming muscles. It was the adrenaline that still coursed through his body, the logical part of his mind knew, and after some time he tried to blank it out.

Joanna didn't move. Danny's fingers were itching to grab for her hand, to feel she was indeed alive. But he didn't dare to reach out to her, didn't feel worthy. It was his fault she was in such a bad shape; he simply didn't deserve the comfort of her warm skin under his fingertips. He had tried redeeming himself a bit of the guilt he felt by finding out her name and ensuring that her family (a sister, Marie) got notified about the accident.

His eyelids drooped, and Danny forced his head up with a jerk. He couldn't fall asleep. He _wouldn't_! But just a few minutes later, his eyes closed again, and this time he just couldn't fight the exhaustion anymore and succumbed to the sleep his body needed so desperately.

H50H50H50H50H50

Steve rushed through the empty hospital hallways until he finally found a nurse at the ICU station's desk. "Commander McGarrett, Five-0. I was told Detective Danny Williams was admitted to your ward?"

The nurse, an elderly woman with glasses, gave him a stern look. "Are you family, Commander? If not, it's past visiting hours, and I must ask you to come back tomo—"

Steve didn't let her finish the sentence. "I'm his emergency contact, and his partner. Please… I need to see him!"

"Oh." Her face became soft. "You're his partner? Okay, that's different, then. Family is always allowed."

Steve blinked a moment in confusion, but didn't correct the misunderstanding. If it got him to see Danny because she thought they were a couple, well, then. Sometimes, the end justifies the means.

"But," she frowned, "Detective Williams is not on our ward. He's a floor up. He's not severely injured. Room 1426."

"Thank you." Steve turned around and went for the stairs, not willing to waste time while waiting for the escalator. He took three steps at a time and headed first into the wrong direction on the upper floor, then finally found the right door. He knocked softly, then, when no one answered, opened it carefully. The room was dark except for the small light over the bed next to the window, but Danny was nowhere to be seen. The covers were in disarray and Steve waited for a moment in case Danny was using the bathroom. When nothing happened, he called out. "Danny? Are you in the bathroom? Do you need help?"

Still, no answer. He knocked at the bathroom door, then opened it. No Danny. Steve frowned, worry spiking up. He left the room, seeking another nurse.

"Ma'am?" Steve called out when a petite nurse emerged from the room next to Danny's. She glanced at him, professional kindness shining in her hazel almond-shaped eyes.

"I was told Detective Williams was put into this room." Steve gestured at the door behind him. "But he's not inside. Did someone take him for examinations?"

The nurse pondered for a moment. "Not as far as I know. He's a short blond guy and was admitted to hospital in company with a woman, right?" When Steve nodded, her face suddenly lit up, then became stern. She shook her head, sighing. "I think I know where he might be. He kept asking about the woman. They performed an emergency surgery on her, then transferred her to ICU. I told him that, and I am pretty sure that's where you're gonna find Detective Williams." She smiled at Steve. "Please tell him that I want to see him back in his room in half an hour. He's not cleared to wander around yet, and I can't put my neck on the line for him longer than this."

H50H50H50H50H50

After Steve found out which room they had placed the mysterious woman in, he softly knocked against said room's door as not to startle Danny whom Steve could see through the floor's window into the room.

Even so, Danny shot up from the uncomfortable position he had been sleeping in and moaned softly when that sudden motion aggravated his sore muscles and ribs.

"Hey, hey, take it easy, buddy." Steve leaped forward when Danny listed heavily to the side. He placed steadying hands on Danny's shoulders and was worried about the thrumming tension he felt in his partner's body. "Easy. You've been in that accident, too." He nodded toward the still sleeping woman in the bed. "How is she?"

"She's… she's gonna live." Danny's voice was a hoarse whisper. "They say it's gonna be rough for a while, though, but… she's gonna live."

Steve frowned, because Danny didn't sound relieved at all. He looked at the woman. She wasn't simply "pretty", as Danny had stated earlier, but an outright beauty, despite all the bruising on her face. Her dark brown hair was unruly due to the circumstances, but Steve could still see the waves in it. No wonder Danny had fallen for her at once, as Steve had no doubt about, knowing his partner and his preferences in women after almost ten years by now.

But the way Danny was sitting, almost as if in the dock, shoulders hunched, face blank, Steve knew this wasn't only physical pain talking out of Danny. He sighed. "Why don't we let her sleep a bit and go grab a coffee, huh? I think we both need one." When Danny raised his head to protest, Steve just put a hand on Danny's left biceps and pulled a bit. "We'll come back right after that, promised."

The way Danny simply deflated and stood up obediently squeezed Steve's heart together. It was even worse than he had suspected. They made it to the hospital's cafeteria in silence, and when Danny still didn't say a word (and if that didn't dial Steve's worry to top-level), Steve cleared his throat, absent-mindedly stirring in his coffee. "You shouldn't blame yourself, you know", he started finally. "And I know you do. But no matter what happened — she is going to live."

"If the ambulance had come a minute later…" Danny's voice trailed off. Steve waited, knowing Danny was searching for the right words. "She would've died, Steve. And of course I'm blaming myself. I was driving the fucking car, Steven! It's my fault it got out of control when that punk steered his car toward us on our side of the road. I was the driver! Joanna could've been…" He didn't finish the sentence, just stared at Steve with eyes almost black, the pupils blown so wide. His face grew pale within a second, and Steve reacted without thinking, sliding off his own chair and holding on to Danny's shoulders when the retching started and Danny threw up the meager contents of his stomach.

The man behind the checkout moved toward them, and Steve nodded gratefully when the man didn't make a fuss but simply handed him an emesis bowl to keep the worst off the floor and a box with wet wipes.

When the retching finally ceased, Steve helped Danny sit back. Pain lines were etched into Danny's face from the exertion that simple act meant for his already bruised and battered body. Steve waited until Danny had cleaned his face.

"Well, so much for your streak." He then stated dryly, on purpose.

Danny stared at him for a moment, confused, then, when his mind finally caught up, chuckled softly. Steve chimed in, relieved to be able to distract Danny for a moment. Still, there was… "You mentioned a car that came on your side of the road?" He gently prodded. If that was true, he had something to do, and it would help Danny, too.

"Wha-yes, yeah. A dark grey sedan, young guy, dark hair, maybe in his twenties? He was clutching a phone and not paying attention to the road. Oh! Partial plate number is 724. Joanna caught it, she…" Danny sucked his lower lip in and chewed it fervently. "She was more attentive of the road and what was going on than I. I was just staring at her like a lovestruck idiot…"

"Oh, nonono, Danny. Don't do this, man, huh?" Steve bowed his head to catch Danny's downcast eyes. "Even if you were looking at her for a moment doesn't mean it was your fault. You never would've needed to avoid the other car _if the other car hadn't come on your side._" Steve knew Danny wouldn't accept the words, not now, not yet when he obviously still was in a kind of shock. But his words would sink in, eventually. The sooner they got that dick that was texting and driving, the faster Danny would find his peace. "Besides, while she might have remembered the plate number, you just gave me a good description of the car and driver. So, don't beat yourself up on this. Please."

Danny sighed. "Can we go up again? I wanna be with her when she wakes up…"

Steve nodded, a smile gracing his lips. "Yeah, sure, buddy. I'll take care that you can stay as long as you need to."

"Thank you, Steve. I, I… wouldn't know what…"

"You did the same for me time and again, Danny. You're my best friend. And once we get you settled in Joanna's room, I'll leave you for a while and find that driver you mentioned. He won't escape, Danny, I promise. I'll have every available HPD officer look out for him, every traffic camera, every restaurant, parking lot and what not camera checked for him. We'll bring justice to Joanna." 

H50H50H50H50H50 

Steve had left Danny after he made sure he could lie down in the bed next to Joanna if he was too tired to sit. He had no doubts, though, that Danny would rather bite his tongue off than admit he was tired. Steve was also certain he would find Danny sitting next to Joanna's bed, head on her covers and fast asleep the next morning.

Well. He wouldn't be different, right?

Danny didn't really pay attention when Steve finally left, squeezing the shoulder of his unhurt side one last time. He was staring at Joanna's face until the guilt of what had happened, of what he had done, overwhelmed him. He averted his gaze and fixed his eyes on her fingers.

They were twitching. Danny frowned, raised his head. Joanna was looking at him with tired but bright eyes, and all he could do was exhale a choking breath.

"Hey," she whispered, furrowing her brows. "Mhm. Not so unlucky after all, huh?"

Her words were slurred, but to Danny it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He blinked, tears suddenly stinging in his eyes. "No. Not at all, not at all."

Her head moved in a minute nod. She frowned. "Mhm. Can't feel my legs? Everything feels funny." She made no attempt to get up, only her fingers trailed over the blanket toward his own. He moved his hand away just before Joanna made contact; once, because he still didn't feel like he deserved it; second, because he needed the hand to wipe suspicious water from his eyes.

"Must be the painkillers," Danny started, but got interrupted by a short knock on the door. A silent alarm had gone off the moment she woke up, notifying the staff of her state, Danny mused, because a nurse and a doctor entered the room. While the nurse checked her monitor, the doctor, an elder man with glasses hanging from a cord around his neck smiled brightly at her.

"Hello, Miss LaPietro, good to see you're awake. How are you feeling? How's it with the pain?"

"She can't feel her legs," Danny answered for Joanna. In his stomach a painful knot started to form and even the doctor's next word couldn't ease that feeling.

"Oh, that was to expect after the surgery you have undergone," he addressed Joanna directly. "Since the deep cut on your back was very close to your spine, a swelling has formed that caused the spinal cord to be contused. But it wasn't injured or severed, so once the swelling ceases, you will regain sensation back to your legs. The surgery itself was successful. Luckily the metal piece didn't hit any of your internal organs, but it did a bit of damage to the aorta. This is why we will keep you here for a while, in our nice hospital, to make sure it can heal properly."

"Uhm, okay." Danny could clearly see how all the information was too much for Joanna to process, given the fact that she just woke up after an hours-long surgery. The doctor seemed to notice it, too, because his smile grew gentle.

"But this is all a lot, I know. Just rest and if you need anything, push this button." The doctor gestured at the call button the nurse arranged now on the pillow a little bit above Joanna's head.

Joanna nodded. "Thank you. Pain is okay, I don't feel very much at the moment," she said with a weak smile.

"Don't hesitate to call if the painkillers abate. No need to be a hero, okay?" When Joanna merely nodded, the doctor waved good-bye with a wink of his eye.

Silence filled the room after the doctor and the nurse left the room. Danny stared at Joanna's fingers, unsure what to say. When she cleared her throat, he almost startled.

"Could you… would you hold my hand, please?" Her voice was soft and small, so very unlike the way she had sounded that very morning when she stepped up to where he had been sitting at the bar.

Danny blinked, looking up. Meeting her eyes felt like hard work, but when he finally did, he was surprised to see no hate, no accusation in them. He averted his gaze hastily. This couldn't be, right?

"Listen, Joanna, I, I'm… I am so very sorry…"

She surprised him again by simply grabbing his fingers and gripping them tight. "Oh, and rightly so." When he tried to withdraw his hand, her fingers closed even tighter around it. "Look at me. Danny! _Look. At. Me._" There was a sharpness in her voice that made him comply.

"You should be sorry, for finding out my name, most certainly because of my ID card." She chuckled when he stared at her, not comprehending. "And you should be even more sorry for calling me _Joanna_. I don't know why my parents gave me that name but I _hate_ it. Leslie — Leslie I like, so please, _please_, call me Leslie, okay?"

When he still just stared at her, she raised their intertwined fingers to her lips and kissed his. "And stop looking at me like that, or I'll regret having sent my sister a text message with _good-looking guy_ in it."

H50H50H50H50H50

Steve rubbed both hands over his burning eyes. He had been staring at tons of traffic cam recordings for hours now, two days in a row, just like the rest of his team did. He hadn't even needed to give out orders; when he returned from the hospital, they had already split the different zones on the island and were working on the information gathered by the cameras.

So far, nothing. A lot of dark grey sedans, but no match on the plate number by any of them. As for dark-haired young guys driving, that was like the literal needle in a haystack. After Tani two days ago and Quinn yesterday, Lou had today volunteered some minutes ago to go and fetch something to eat for them all.

Steve felt grateful. His team wouldn't give up until they brought justice to Danny and Joanna, just as he had promised and hadn't even needed to address the urgency to them. Steve sighed and switched to the next camera in his sector when his phone rang.

"Yeah, Lou?"

_"Talk about karma, Steve. I just entered the restaurant and went to the counter to place my order when a young, dark-haired guy tried to shoulder his way out past me. Guess what? His eyes were glued to his phone, and by a hunch, I turned around and followed him out. Guess again? He drives a dark grey sedan. Plate number BZM 724. Well, he _wanted_ to drive a dark grey sedan, because right now? He's sitting hand-cuffed on my passenger seat, and we're on our way back to HQ. I suggest you prepare the room for our special guest."_

"What do you want from me?! I didn't do anything! You have no right to keep me in custody! I have rights! I am allowed to make a phone call!" The young man sounded desperate, but Steve didn't give a damn. The moment he'd laid his eyes on him, he had known this was the one that had caused Danny's and Joanna's terrible accident. A hunch, yes. To make sure, he had ordered Quinn to squeeze any bite of information out of his phone, while he and Lou accompanied their "guest" to the interrogation room. Tani was on her way to the hospital to get Danny to recognize the guy.

When the guy they had identified as Ramon Rodriguez mentioned the phone call, Steve felt his whole body going tense. The urge to grab Ramon by the neck and shake him until something broke was so big that he forced himself to cross the arms before his chest. He didn't want the guy to slip out of their grasp. They'd do it by the books.

"Captain Grover told me he read you the Miranda rights when he arrested you under suspicion of causing a car accident two days ago and then running from the crash site without helping. This counts as a class B felony especially since one of the victims is still in ICU, and that means up to 10 years in prison. You will get your phone call, but just not right now. Now, I want you to know that your toying around with the phone almost caused the death of two people. And _you didn't even care._ You just stepped on the gas and simply left them to their fate! Do you understand what that means?!"

Ramon shook his head, sweating profusely now. "No no no no, I didn't do that, I never use my phone when I drive, I'm a responsible-minded driver! I have a hands-free kit in my car, check it out! I would never…"

Steve heard the door in his back open and close, and then Quinn's voice, slicing through the air like a knife. "And still you have. I have checked your phone, and you were indeed on a call about twenty minutes before Detective Williams called 9-1-1."

"Via my hands-free device!" Ramon jolted on the cuffs that bound him to the chair, desperation floating around him almost graspable. Steve had no pity. Whatever Danny must've felt during the long minutes until help arrived, he wanted the guy in front of him to feel the same.

"So you confess that you weren't completely paying attention on the road?!" Lou, who had lingered like a dark shadow behind Steve, stepped forward. Ramon turned his head from Quinn to Steve to Lou and back, the pressure obviously getting too much for him.

"Yes, I did pay attention! As I said-"

"Blah blah." Quinn made a cutting gesture. "I also found out via GPS that the connection was severed at a point on Waianae Valley Road not much behind Haleahi, only a few hundred yards from the crash site. You lost your signal, right?! And then took your phone into your hands and tried to catch the signal again."

Ramon paled, and that was as good as a confession for Steve. "I want to make my phone call." Ramon clammed his lips shut. "I won't say another word without a lawyer!"

"Sure thing, Mr Rodriguez." Lou pulled the key to the handcuffs out and opened them. "Go ahead. The evidence is devastating, though, so I am looking forward to seeing which lawyer will take on such a forlorn case."

Ramon jumped to his feet as soon as he was freed from the chair and stumbled past Steve, Quinn and Lou as if it was running the gauntlet, only to come to an abrupt halt when another person appeared in the frame of the door Quinn had opened for Ramon.

"All the more since there is at least one witness to confirm you were driving the car." Danny's voice was firm and controlled, but Steve, knowing the man for so many years, could see the fire burning in his blue eyes. "Yes, Steve. This is the man that ran us off the road and disappeared without helping."

H50H50H50H50H50

As soon as they were back upstairs, Danny slumped on the leather couch in Steve's office. Steve sighed. "You should go home, you know. Get some rest. Sleep in your own bed."

But as anticipated, Danny shook his head, a stubborn look on his face. "Not right now. I want to give my testimony to Duke first, to make sure this guy won't get free without being processed by HPD first. It won't stop him from driving again, but still… I have to do this. And then I'll go back to the hospital."

Steve nodded, knowing there was no way to convince Danny. "How is she doing?" he asked instead.

"Oh, she's getting better and better." A small smile graced Danny's lips, but Steve could still see the guilt in his eyes that held him in a firm grip. "The swelling in her back has receded, and she slowly gets the feeling back into her legs. She's restless." He chuckled. "She wants to get up, but the doctors haven't allowed that just yet. She's very, uhm, vocal about what she thinks of them."

Steve smiled, too. He paid her a visit yesterday, taking a short break from work and had liked her instantly. Despite the still heavy painkillers she was on she had been witty and charming, and Steve had seen how Danny beamed whenever she turned her attention on him. Love at first sight? Witnessing these two, Steve believed in it. Danny, his ever-anxious partner who always expected the worst, was as cheerful and carefree around Leslie as Steve had seen him only with Grace and Charlie. And Leslie? There was a special way her eyes glowed whenever she trained them on Danny that told Steve more than words could.

"You should ask her out," Steve blurted out, shrugging awkwardly when Danny stared at him as if he had just grown another head.

"Do you even listen to what I am saying?" Danny asked, incredulity coloring his voice. "She's not allowed to even get up yet, _Steven_."

"But that's not a _no_." Steve grinned. "Take her out once she's discharged. You know how this works. And if you're nice, who knows what else is going to happen?" Steve wiggled with the eyebrows.

"Oh. _That_." Danny made a waving motion, then sucked both lips in, only to release them with a _pop_ again. "We already… well, we have…" His hands were moving out of their own by now, and he blushed.

Steve's eyebrows literally hit his hairline. "You — and Leslie? But you said you met her in that bar and then offered to drive her…?" Understanding dawned in him and made him speechless. „_Oh._"

"Yeah, right. _Oh_." Danny sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "You know me. I'm a gentleman, old-fashioned, I'd never do _that_ before at least the third date! It was terrible!"

Steve waited while Danny's eyes grew wide as he realized what he just said. "No, no! I didn't mean it was… it was great, really, it was… uhm…"

"I know what you want to say", Steve graciously let Danny off the hook before he got a stroke. "And it doesn't matter. All the more reason to take her out for a nice, romantic dinner."

H50H50H50H50H50

Steve didn't mention the word "dinner-date" again, but he knew he had successfully planted the seed in Danny's mind. It still couldn't ease all of Danny's worries regarding his guilt over the accident, but even a blind one could see that Leslie held absolutely no grudge against Danny because of it. Quite the opposite; she told Steve how grateful she was that Danny had saved her life (after getting rid of Danny by asking him for another cup of coffee) and that she didn't understand why he still felt guilty. Steve had tried to explain to her the complexity that Danny Williams was, but Danny was back with the coffee before he could even begin to dip deeper. Leslie had winked at him, though, smiling, nodding.

It was now the fifth week, and Leslie was allowed to leave the hospital, but had strict orders to rest and recover at home, no work and especially no physical work at all except for some physical therapy to prevent muscle wasting.

She protested when Danny appeared in the doorframe, accompanied by Steve who pushed a wheelchair along. "I am not going to sit in that thing like my 80 years old grandmother!" she flared up, but Danny shook his head.

"This is not negotiable, _Joanna_," he answered in his best commanding voice, knowing that calling her by the unloved first name would make her see how serious he was.

Her eyes shot fire, but then she stepped up to the wheelchair and sat down, with a death-defying posture in her trim body. "You're going to pay for that, Mister," she promised in a not-quite serious voice.

Danny gave Steve's shoulder a tap. "May I…?"

Steve clutched the wheelchair handles tighter. "No! I'm driving. I always drive!"

Danny frowned. "Oh, no no no, _Steven_! You may drive my car, your car, _any_ car. But this wheelchair _I _am going to drive!"

Steve turned to Danny, arms crossed before the chest and stepped between Danny and the wheelchair. "Not going to happen, _Daniel_."

"And what are you-"

The silent _screech_ of rubber wheelchair-tires against the linoleum of the hospital floor made both men turn toward Leslie who had taken over herself and wheeled forward a few yards.

"Les!" Danny moved first, reached the handles and stopped her. "You shouldn't…!" He looked back to Steve who still stood in the doorframe, arms crossed, a wide grin on his face.

"I'm gonna get the suitcase", Steve chuckled. "Go, bring her to the car." He intensified his gaze on Danny and made a shooing gesture. _Ask her._

Danny frowned again, head tilted to the side. _What?_

_Ask. Her. Out._ Steve mouthed, and Danny blinked when he finally understood.

_Oh._

He saw how Danny bowed down to her, but couldn't make out his words, but that didn't really matter. Because Leslie clearly did hear them. She turned around as much as possible in the wheelchair and her smile could light up a whole universe as she answered "Yes, I'd love that, Danny!"

Steve grinned like the cat who got the cream as he followed the two outside to the parking lot where the Silverado waited. The car that _he_ would drive.

Naturally.


End file.
